Benefits of UCC
A UCC is a fabulously useful tool that allows all project stakeholders to "get inside the head" of users and customers. It does this by presenting a view across the complete user demographic, of all appropriate use cases and scenarios married to (empirically derived) estimates of priority (i.e. importance to the user).
- Power - the UCC is a tremendously powerful tool for representing the entirety of a users beliefs and views
- Clarity - the UCC should be an easy to use tool that quickly answers the questions asked of it
Look out for...
- Garbage in, garbage out - the famous phrase applies particularly well to a UCC. The lesson here is that, if a UCC is deemed necessary or desirable in the context of a project, then it should be created properly, on the basis of substantial, rigorous research. If the data that goes into the UCC is not "clean" - i.e. if it comprises hearsay, inaccurate opinion or biased views - then the results of using it will be similarly skewed.
- Regular research - a UCC is only as good as the data that goes into it. And that data changes over time, because customer opinions and attitudes change over time. So a good strategy is to ensure the UCC is constantly tested against current opinion and views. A "rolling" research programme is best here, with customers being "polled" on a regular basis on a broad range of issues.
Alternative methods
Data from use cases and scenarios - and user stories - are one of the most important sources of information for creating a UCC. Equally important are the data about user segmentation, i.e. data on markets.
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